Are Great Teachers Born or Are They Made?

Thursday’s Robin Hood Unplugged breakfast featured Norman Atkins, founder of both Uncommon Charter Schools and the Relay Graduate School of Education, the first independent graduate school of education to be newly credentialed in New York in more than 80 years.

Research suggests that the quality of a teacher can make or break a student’s future chances of success. If an average student is exposed to three not-so-great teachers in a row, their performance levels decrease — making it that much more unlikely that they will graduate from high school and essentially eliminating their chances of going to college. However, if a student has three great teachers in a row, their academic performance dramatically increases. Norman described this as a “a relay of great teachers.”

Hear more from Norman Atkins in this video from the 2011 Heroes Breakfast.

CHART:  Sanders, W. and Rivers, J. (1996) Cumulative and residual effects of teachers on future student academic achievement. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center.